Sanath Jayasuriya didn't do badly against England yesterday: a quick 25 in 26 balls followed by a decent bowling spell of 8-0-31-0. Most people would say that this was a reasonable performance.

But when you set such high standards, even a "reasonable" performance can hurt you.

Jayasuriya has therefore dropped to the second place, just below Matthew Hayden, after Day 23 of the World Cup.

Andrew Flintoff (5), after a good bowling spell of 10-0-35-3, has edged ahead of Shane Bond (6). Flintoff is gaining points only because of his bowling. If he could bat even half as well as he is capable of he would soar to the top in the MVP rankings.

Lasith Malinga (9) continues to add immense value to Sri Lanka with his wicket-taking prowess. Sadly, Kumar Sangakkara (31) isn't playing as well as we expected him to. Other Sri Lankan players doing very well are Muttiah Muralitharan (21), Mahela Jayawardene (22) and Chaminda Vaas (30).

Two players who have done surprisingly well are Charles Langeveldt (11) of South Africa and Sajid Mahmood (12) of England. Langeveldt is currently South Africa's most successful bowler; not Pollock or Ntini!

Rank

Country

Player

Runs

Balls

Ct | St

Rc

Bb

W

Run outs

M

Total

Average

1

Aus

Matthew Hayden

306

250

1

0

3

417.00

139.00

2

SL

Sanath Jayasuriya

275

241

1

105

170

4

1

4

513.20

128.30

3

NZ

Scott Styris

167

203

2

103

162

7

0

3

376.20

125.40

4

NZ

Jacob Oram

63

83

1

78

141

7

1

3

291.40

97.13

5

Eng

Andrew Flintoff

45

70

2

95

157

7

0

3

242.60

80.87

6

NZ

Shane Bond

0

0

0

65

172

7

0

3

240.60

80.20

7

SA

Graeme Smith

174

179

0

35

36

1

0

3

222.60

74.20

8

SA

Jacques Kallis

200

259

3

110

108

1

0

3

208.20

69.40

9

SL

Lasith Malinga

2

9

1

165

182

11

0.5

4

258.40

64.60

10

Eng

Paul Collingwood

135

156

2

102

114

2

0

3

192.40

64.13

11

SA

Charles Langeveldt

1

15

0

162

162

9

0.5

3

185.60

61.87

12

Eng

Sajid Mahmood

2

2

0

84

102

4

1

2

120.00

60.00

13

Eng

Kevin Pietersen

166

219

1

2

6

0

0.5

3

176.60

58.87

14

Aus

Michael Clarke

133

122

1

0

3

173.40

57.80

15

NZ

Stephen Fleming

154

169

0

0

3

172.80

57.60

16

WI

Daren Powell

7

14

0

154

234

8

0

4

228.00

57.00

17

Aus

Ricky Ponting

126

127

4

0

3

170.40

56.80

18

Aus

Adam Gilchrist

108

95

3 | 1

0

3

165.00

55.00

19

Aus

Glenn McGrath

0

0

0

98

118

7

0

3

164.40

54.80

20

Eng

Paul Nixon

103

100

3 | 1

0.5

3

163.00

54.33

21

SL

Muttiah Muralitharan

3

3

2

156

228

7

0

4

208.00

52.00

22

SL

Mahela Jayawardene

196

275

1

1

4

201.00

50.25

23

Aus

Nathan Bracken

0

0

1

85

132

5

0

3

145.60

48.53

24

SL

Tillakaratne Dilshan

102

104

1

48

84

1

1

4

193.00

48.25

25

SL

Dilhara Fernando

2

2

1

60

96

3

0

2

96.20

48.10

26

Ire

Trent Johnston

40

35

1

85

78

2

0.5

2

94.40

47.20

27

Aus

Brad Hogg

5

6

1

137

150

6

0

3

137.20

45.73

28

SA

AB De Villiers

92

78

3

0

3

136.60

45.53

29

Eng

Liam Plunkett

29

34

0

43

42

1

0

1

45.40

45.40

30

SL

Chaminda Vaas

4

6

1

106

198

5

0

4

180.60

45.15

31

SL

Kumar Sangakkara

108

136

4 | 4

0.5

4

179.20

44.80

32

Eng

Ravinder Bopara

62

58

1

0

2

82.60

41.30

33

SA

Andrew Hall

8

13

0

130

159

5

0

3

122.80

40.93

34

WI

Shivnarine Chanderpaul

187

263

0

0

4

163.60

40.90

35

Aus

Shane Watson

47

35

1

81

100

1

1

3

118.00

39.33

36

WI

Brian Lara

116

136

2

1

4

157.20

39.30

37

Ire

Andrew White

86

94

2

29

31

0

0.5

3

114.60

38.20

38

NZ

Hamish Marshall

65

77

0

0

2

68.40

34.20

39

Ire

Boyd Rankin

4

8

0

92

114

4

0

3

96.80

32.27

40

WI

Dwayne Bravo

48

64

0

175

174

5

0

4

129.00

32.25

41

Ire

Kyle McCallan

28

36

0

100

150

2

0

3

95.20

31.73

42

SA

Ashwell Prince

48

47

1

0

2

63.40

31.70

43

Ire

Niall O'Brien

99

144

2 | 0

0

3

92.80

30.93

44

Aus

Shaun Tait

0

0

0

132

129

5

0

3

91.20

30.40

45

SA

Makhaya Ntini

7

9

1

108

144

3

0

3

91.00

30.33

46

SA

Herschelle Gibbs

54

85

5

1

3

89.00

29.67

47

WI

Denesh Ramdin

69

70

7 | 0

0

4

117.00

29.25

48

NZ

Daniel Vettori

0

0

0

126

174

3

0

3

85.20

28.40

49

Eng

Monty Panesar

0

0

0

123

168

3

0

3

83.40

27.80

50

Ban

Syed Rasel

10

19

0

80

102

2

0

2

54.40

27.20

51

Eng

James Anderson

0

0

0

113

150

3

0

3

79.00

26.33

52

WI

Chris Gayle

74

114

1

147

176

2

0

4

103.60

25.90

53

WI

Ramnaresh Sarwan

128

224

1

22

24

1

0

4

103.00

25.75

54

SL

Russel Arnold

79

104

0

26

37

1

0

4

102.40

25.60

55

SL

Chamara Silva

108

143

0

0

4

101.60

25.40

56

SA

Shaun Pollock

20

31

0

146

150

2

1.5

3

73.20

24.40

57

WI

Ian Bradshaw

6

17

0

94

114

2

0

2

43.60

21.80

58

Eng

Ian Bell

83

164

1

1

3

63.80

21.27

59

SL

Upul Tharanga

108

177

2

0

4

84.40

21.10

60

Ban

Aftab Ahmed

50

62

2

1

1

0

0

3

60.20

20.07

61

Ire

Langford-Smith

26

19

0

102

126

1

0

3

59.60

19.87

62

WI

Marlon Samuels

43

62

1

81

84

1

1

4

75.60

18.90

63

NZ

Brendon McCullum

0

0

9 | 1

0

3

55.00

18.33

64

Ire

Andre Botha

60

115

0

109

132

1

0

3

48.60

16.20

65

NZ

Craig McMillan

60

91

0

6

9

0

0

3

48.40

16.13

66

SL

Farveez Maharoof

5

9

1

67

84

1

0

2

32.00

16.00

67

Ire

Kevin O'Brien

29

65

1

39

42

1

0

2

29.60

14.80

68

Eng

Michael Vaughan

32

68

0

48

72

1

0

3

43.20

14.40

69

SA

Mark Boucher

22

27

4 | 0

0

3

42.40

14.13

70

NZ

James Franklin

0

0

1

99

108

2

0

3

40.40

13.47

71

Ban

Mohammad Ashraful

54

79

0

7

2

0

0

3

39.40

13.13

72

Aus

Andrew Symonds

31

31

1

67

50

1

0

3

39.20

13.07

73

WI

Jerome Taylor

23

27

0

136

156

1

0

3

37.20

12.40

74

WI

Lendl Simmons

14

26

1

0

1

12.20

12.20

75

Ban

Mohammad Rafique

37

53

0

106

108

1

0

3

36.00

12.00

76

Ire

Eoin Morgan

48

91

1

0

3

28.20

9.40

77

NZ

Michael Mason

0

0

0

18

45

0

0

2

18.00

9.00

78

Ban

Tamim Iqbal

38

75

2

0

3

26.00

8.67

79

Ban

Saqibul Hasan

54

97

0

96

83

1

0

3

24.80

8.27

80

Ban

Habibul Bashar

51

111

1

0

3

18.20

6.07

81

Ire

William Porterfield

45

103

2

0

3

17.60

5.87

82

Ire

Jeremy Bray

41

82

0

0

3

16.40

5.47

83

Eng

Ed Joyce

11

28

3

0

3

14.60

4.87

84

Aus

Michael Hussey

14

21

0

0

3

11.20

3.73

85

SA

Robin Petersen

4

8

0

22

30

0

0

1

3.60

3.60

86

WI

Dwayne Smith

17

15

0

47

48

0

0

4

13.40

3.35

87

Ban

Javed Omar

22

51

0

0

1

3.20

3.20

88

NZ

Peter Fulton

15

32

0

0

2

4.40

2.20

89

SA

Justin Kemp

6

22

2

14

18

0

0

3

4.80

1.60

90

Ban

Mashrafe Mortaza

34

47

0

127

120

0

0

3

-0.60

-0.20

91

NZ

Ross Taylor

0

1

0

0

1

-0.80

-0.80

92

Ban

Shahriar Nafees

1

7

0

0

2

-3.60

-1.80

93

Ire

John Mooney

0

1

0

22

24

0

0

1

-3.60

-3.60

94

NZ

Jeetan Patel

0

0

0

42

48

0

0

1

-3.60

-3.60

95

NZ

Lou Vincent

0

6

0

0

1

-4.80

-4.80

96

Ban

Mushfiqur Rahim

8

41

0 | 0

0

3

-16.80

-5.60

97

WI

Corey Collymore

1

7

0

99

114

0

0

2

-11.40

-5.70

98

Ban

Abdur Razzak

0

4

0

139

126

1

0

3

-17.40

-5.80

99

Eng

Jamie Dalrymple

3

12

1

29

24

0

0

1

-8.40

-8.40

100

Ban

Tapash Baisya

0

0

0

35

17

0

0

1

-21.40

-21.40

101

Ire

Paul Mooney

0

1

0

40

21

0

0

1

-24.00

-24.00

Ct: Catches taken | St: Stumpings | Rc: Runs conceded | Bb: Balls bowled | W: Wickets taken | M: Matches played. *Run outs are counted as 1 for a direct hit, and 0.5 if the fielder is an equal participant in a run out dismissal.

Here's the Chernoff gallery of the top nine Super Eight players after Day 23.

Recall that batsmen have round faces and a short and wide nose. They smile more when they score more runs (see "Hayden").

Bowlers have tapered faces, big ears and a tall and thin nose. Bowlers have bigger ears if they take more wickets (see "Malinga").

Fielders who take a lot of catches have wide eyebrows (see "McCullum" in the image below), and those that participate in run out dismissals have bigger eyes (see "Pollock").

All-rounders have both batsmen's and bowler's features. Batting all-rounders have more batsmen's features (see "Jayasuriya").

Here are the faces of the nine highest scoring batsmen in the Super Eight (total runs / scoring rate). If two players have scored the same number of runs, the player with the higher points appears first.

Here are the faces of the nine highest wicket-taking bowlers in the Super Eight (wickets / no. of runs conceded per over). If two players have scored the same number of wickets, the player with the higher points appears first.

And, finally, here are the faces of the nine most successful fielders in the Super Eight (fielding points | run outs / catches / stumpings.

We end off by looking at the names of players who have topped the MVP list from days 1-23. Jayasuriya is the only Sri Lankan on this list that is dominated by Australians and South Africans.